SAN DIEGO -
UC Irvine scored in seven of nine innings as it pounded out 21 hits en route to a 15-2 win over San Diego State Tuesday evening at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Anteater hit total was a season high allowed by the Aztecs, who saw their record fall to 9-22. UCI improved to 16-15 as it gained a split of the two-game home-and-home series with SDSU this season.

San Diego State used a total of nine pitchers on the night, with only starter Will Miller and reliever Dan Bruckart able to keep the visitors off the scoreboard during their short stints. Miller allowed just a single in the first, his only inning of work, while Bruckart pitched a perfect 1.1 innings in the sixth and seventh.

The Anteaters opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the second, only to see the Aztec answer with a single run in the bottom of the same inning on two-out RBI single by Joseph Scaperotta.

UCI upped its lead to 4-1 in the third, but again SDSU came back with a single run in the bottom half of the inning. After Lance Zawadzki led off with a double, he went to second on a fly ball to center, then scored on Jake McLintock's sacrifice fly to left.

From that point, it was all UCI as it scored five times over the nest three frames and added six more over the final two innings.

Zawadzki was San Diego State's lone offensive spark on the evening, connecting for three of SDSU's five hits including a pair of doubles. The Anteater relief duo of Gary Nakashima and Michael Koehler held the Aztecs hitless from Zawadzki's leadoff double in the third until his second double of the contest in the eighth.

Nakashima, who came on in relief of starter Travis Rhymes in the second, went four innings to pick up the win and improve to 2-0. SDSU's Shaun Burkle (0-2), making his first appearance since suffering a broken hand in later February, took the loss after allowing UCI's first two runs in the second inning.

Anteater catcher Mark Wagner led his team with four hits, including a double and triple, and scored three times. Third baseman Cody Cipriano made the most of his one plate appearance, hitting a three-run homer in the eighth that made it an 11-2 game.

San Diego State will now travel to Provo, Utah, where it will face league-leading Brigham Young in a three-game series beginning Thursday (Apr. 14) at 7:00 p.m. (MDT) at Larry H. Miller Field.